The present invention relates to shelving assemblies and specifically to a shelving panel and support bracket subassembly which may be used in a display case, in a refrigerator, or on an office partition panel, or the like, where a removable or adjustable shelving panel and support bracket assembly is desired.
A wide variety of shelving assemblies are presently available and may be generally categorized into three groups. First, the simplest type of shelving assembly will typically include a pair of support brackets projecting from a wall surface with a shelf panel placed upon the brackets without secure attachment of the shelf to the brackets. This type of assembly may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,669, entitled SHELF BRACKET STRUCTURE and issued on Sep. 14, 1971, to Asher, for example. However, this simple type of shelving assembly is unstable and susceptible to being dislodged or jarred, spilling items disposed on the shelf.
A second category of shelving assemblies includes modification to the first category by the addition of fasteners for securing the shelf panel to the support bracket. This type of assembly may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,146, entitled SHELF SUPPORTS AND THE LIKE and issued on Mar. 31, 1964, to Fisher, for example. This arrangement adds some stability to the shelving assembly over the first type of shelving assembly. However, these shelving assemblies typically require the use of tools to assemble the fasteners. Further, the fasteners are typically small and easily lost.
The third category of shelving assemblies includes preassembled support bracket and shelving panel units. These units are commonly used with office partition panels and overcome the assembly problems of the second category assemblies. However, these units are typically large and bulky, requiring significant storage space when not in use.